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{{Infobox book
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'''The Center Cannot Hold''' is the second book in the [[American Empire]] trilogy. It starts in 1923, soon after the assassination of [[President (CS-Southern Victory)|Confederate President]] [[Wade Hampton V]]. It shows the prosperity of the 1920's and the decline of the [[Freedom Party]] until the Austro-Hungarian bank failure and subsequent Great Depression. As a result of the depression, the ruling [[Whig Party|Whigs]] in the [[Confederate States (Southern Victory)|Confederate States]] loses power to the [[Freedom Party]]. The book ends on March 4, 1934, with the inauguration of [[Jake Featherston]] as president of the Confederate States
  
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|author = [[Harry Turtledove]]
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|pub_date = June 25, 2002
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|publisher = [[Del Rey]]
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|location = [[United States]]
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|series = [[Southern Victory]]
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|image = CenterCannotHold.jpg
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|ImageSize = 180px
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|cover_artist = Big Bot Design
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|genre = [[Alternate History]]
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|preceded_by = [[Blood and Iron]]
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|followed_by = [[The Victorious Opposition]]
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}}'''''American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold''''' is the second book in the [[American Empire]] trilogy, and is part of the larger [[Southern Victory]] series. It starts in 1923, soon after the assassination of [[President of the Confederate States (Southern Victory)|Confederate President]] [[Wade Hampton V]]. It shows the prosperity of the 1920s and the decline of the [[Freedom Party]] until the [[Austria-Hungary (Southern Victory)|Austro-Hungarian]] [[Stock Market Crash of 1929 (Southern Victory)|bank failure]] and subsequent [[Great Depression (Southern Victory)|Great Depression]]. As a result of the depression, the ruling [[Whig Party (CSA)|Whigs]] in the [[Confederate States (Southern Victory)|Confederate States]] lose power to the [[Freedom Party]]. The book ends on March 4, 1934, with the inauguration of [[Jake Featherston]] as [[President of the Confederate States (Southern Victory)|President of the Confederate States]].
   
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==Characters==
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{{Southern Victory}}
  
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* [[Abner Dowling]]
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* [[Anne Colleton]]
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* [[Mary McGregor]]
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* [[Sam Carsten]]
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* [[Jefferson Pinkard]]
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* [[Sylvia Enos]]
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* [[Jake Featherston]]
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* [[Irving Morrell]]
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* [[Flora Blackford]]
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* [[Clarence Potter]]
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* [[Jonathan Moss]]
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* [[Lucien Galtier]]
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* [[Scipio (Southern Victory)|Scipio]]
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* [[Chester Martin]]
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* [[Cincinnatus Driver]]
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* [[Nellie Jacobs]]
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* [[Reggie Bartlett]]
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* [[Hipolito Rodriguez]]
   
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==Editorial Note==
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[[Category:Southern Victory Novels|Center Cannot Hold]]
  
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The book's title is derived from the poem "The Second Coming" by [[Irish]] poet [[William Butler Yeats]]: "Turning and turning in the widening gyre/The falcon cannot hear the falconer;/
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[[Category:Alternate History|Center Cannot Hold]]
  
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Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,/The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere/The ceremony of innocence is drowned;/The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity."
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The poem's dire images are quite fitting with the book's plot, depicting the "blood-dimmed tide" of the relentless rise of a ruthless, genocidal regime in a society where "things fall apart" and "anarchy is loosed upon the world". Throughout the book "The best" indeed "lack all conviction", while "the worst" are indeed "full of passionate intensity".
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{{Southern Victory}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Center Cannot Hold, The}}
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[[Category:Southern Victory Novels]]
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[[Category:Alternate History]]
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[[Category:2002 Works]]
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[[Category:Works Set in the 1920s]]
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[[Category:Works Set in the 1930s]]
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[[Category:Works Set in the United States]]
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[[Category:Works Set in Canada]]
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[[Category:Works Set in Mexico]]
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[[Category:Works Set in France]]

Revision as of 19:06, 9 August 2020

The Center Cannot Hold  
CenterCannotHold
Author Harry Turtledove
Cover artist Big Bot Design
Series Southern Victory
Genre(s) Alternate History
Publisher Del Rey
Publication date June 25, 2002
Preceded by Blood and Iron
Followed by The Victorious Opposition

American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold is the second book in the American Empire trilogy, and is part of the larger Southern Victory series. It starts in 1923, soon after the assassination of Confederate President Wade Hampton V. It shows the prosperity of the 1920s and the decline of the Freedom Party until the Austro-Hungarian bank failure and subsequent Great Depression. As a result of the depression, the ruling Whigs in the Confederate States lose power to the Freedom Party. The book ends on March 4, 1934, with the inauguration of Jake Featherston as President of the Confederate States.

Characters

Editorial Note

The book's title is derived from the poem "The Second Coming" by Irish poet William Butler Yeats: "Turning and turning in the widening gyre/The falcon cannot hear the falconer;/ Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,/The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere/The ceremony of innocence is drowned;/The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity."

The poem's dire images are quite fitting with the book's plot, depicting the "blood-dimmed tide" of the relentless rise of a ruthless, genocidal regime in a society where "things fall apart" and "anarchy is loosed upon the world". Throughout the book "The best" indeed "lack all conviction", while "the worst" are indeed "full of passionate intensity".

v · d · e
Southern Victory
Books
POV Characters
Reggie Bartlett3† · Flora Blackford1 · Sam Carsten1 · Samuel Clemens0† · Anne Colleton4† · Tom Colleton6†  · George Armstrong Custer0† · Frederick Douglass0† · Jerry Dover6 · Abner Dowling1  · Cincinnatus Driver1 · George Enos2† · George Enos Jr.5 · Sylvia Enos3† · Jake Featherston1† · Lucien Galtier3† · Armstrong Grimes5 · Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson0† · Roger Kimball3† · Robert E. Lee2† · Abraham Lincoln0† · Lord Lyons2† · Cassius Madison6 · Paul Mantarakis2† · Chester Martin1 · Arthur McGregor3† · Gordon McSweeney2† · Irving Morrell1 · Jonathan Moss1 · Leonard O'Doull5 · Jefferson Pinkard1 · Mary McGregor Pomeroy5† · Michael Pound6 · Clarence Potter5 · Stephen Ramsay2† · Hipolito Rodriguez5† · Jorge Rodriguez6 · Theodore Roosevelt0† · Scipio4† · Alfred von Schlieffen0† · Nellie Semphroch3† · Jeb Stuart0† · Unnamed Lieutenant Carrying Special Order 1910†
Countries
Wars
Politicial Parties

0=denotes a character who was a POV in How Few Remain only
1=denotes a character who was a POV from American Front through In at the Death
2=denotes a character who was a POV for all or part The Great War trilogy only
3=denotes a character who was a POV for The Great War and all or part of the American Empire trilogy

4=denotes a character who was a POV for the The Great War trilogy, the American Empire trilogy, and part of the Settling Accounts series
5=denotes a character who was a POV for the American Empire trilogy and the Settling Accounts series
6=denotes a character who was a POV for all or part of the Settling Accounts series only
† denotes a deceased character.

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